Back to Politics: Vote 2008

Starting in mid-October I'll be cranking away at this blog again, and I haven't blogged since the midterm elections in 2006 on issues surrounding politics, but if this isn't the perfect time, I don't know when it would be.

I'm now moving from an assistant chief in this year's elections to an actual chief of a polling site. I'm both excited and terrified. Excited to be part of the process and to be taking on a job that I believe allows me to make sure that everybody who shows up at my polling station has their U.S. given right to vote. There are times, of course, in which I've had to turn people away--but it's usually that they showed up at the wrong site, or that they forgot they didn't change their registration after college. I've never had to turn somebody down due to ID purposes (unlike what might happen in Indiana). I'm slightly obsessed and a little bit terrified that I might not get any sleep the night before and be a zombie during the action of the day...

I have seen people being unfairly treated when voting. A woman who happened to be African American was being unduly "processed" at the check-in table before she was given the "a-ok" to vote--I wasn't working this site, just voting at my own polling station, and I think this experience caused me to go volunteer to work the polls. I didn't hear the whole conversation between the woman and the poll workers, so I don't know for sure what went down, but I didn't leave until I saw that she voted. My hope is that it was for a legitimate reason (roll-related) and not racism. I'd like to think that, in Virginia, we don't discriminate, but I've lived in the south most of my life and I know better: discrimination happens everywhere. So I think it's up to us to protect all citizens and make sure not only that they feel safe voting, but that they have every opportunity to vote.

I'm just hoping that this November I get enough sleep the night before and that we get a great turnout. I hope that this process works this time, and that everybody votes. Otherwise, we can't complain about how the world is falling apart if we do nothing to speak up about torture, needless death, environmental protection, illegal wars, a deficit that grows every second, women's rights to their own bodies, better MPG standards on cars, and so on, and on, and on, and on...

FINAL CLASS IS ON!

Hey Y'all,

We will meet on Thursday (May 8) night for our final class. Please bring analysis papers, printed-out favorite blogs, and yourselves, of course (ready for short, informal presentations).

Thanks go to Dr. Trad, my surgeon. He scheduled the surgical shenanigans for Friday at 1:30 ...

Julie

Summary Post: Home Improvement

Well, it's hard to believe but eight weeks are here! Class ends on Thursday and so does this installment of my blogs. Each topic I have chosen has made me more proactive in some way.

First I started with politics. After that blogging experience, I became an assistant chief election officer for Fairfax County. I've worked 3 main elections, and it's been a very rewarding experience. Then I blogged about personal finance. I was into money before, but this blogging topic really opened my eyes about what I could do differently. Rev up those Roth IRAs and get moving. And I did. Then there was the "dissertation" blog. What a farce! I thought that since the other blogs had enhanced my life in some way, then blogging about my dissertation would keep me writing it in earnest. This didn't work at all and just ended up alienating both my audience and me from the project. (This reminds me: always consider one's audience!) Finally, in this semester's blog installments I tackled home improvement, and I think I've done a lot in a little time: reseeding and manicuring a front lawn; ripping off wood panelling and painting the hallway; buying (they're on the way!) new light fixtures for that hallway and some nice frames for family photos to give it some personality; fixing a leaky roof; and buying (just one) a chaise lounge so that I can relax as I grade final papers.

Home improvement is really about environment setting. Walking into a nice, updated home (or part of a home) gives me a satisfied feeling. It's so much better than the 70s throwback that this house was. Improvements need to continue: we didn't buy new construction. However, that's ok. There is something to be said about doing it yourself. It might not be perfect, but I paid less and got it my way!

See you online...
Julie

Green Living

I have recently become fascinated with "green" living. Last week was Green Week, and local cities (like the one I was visiting in Bristol, Rhode Island) were sponsoring "green clean-ups," in which, ironically, multitudes of men on gasoline mowers were cleaning/polluting all in one.

Now, Home and Garden TV is having a sweepstakes, and the prize is none other than a "Green Home." HGTV describes the concept home with 7 main environmental goals: (1) Conveniently Located so long travel isn't necessary; (2) sustainable site, in which the environment around the home is not unduly affected; (3) water efficiency--reducing home water use by about 40%; (4) energy--the home will use approximately 25% less energy than a comparable home in a regular neighborhood; (5) materials and resources all locally provided or made; (6) indoor environmental quality; and (7) education--the sweepstakes educates the public about all the potential options for "green homes" (HGTV, 2008).

So this got me wondering: how environmentally friendly is my own home? Within the last year we remodeled the kitchen, throwing away all the old cabinets in the local dump (no green there); we bought new cabinets instead of refinishing the 1970s ones (nope); we bought mostly Energystar appliances (50% on this one--the frig was a good deal and so that one isn't so efficient); new siding makes the home more efficient (that counts); we replaced stone pavers with green grass (great for the O2 but still takes on water, so 50% there).

Here's where I can go green: new bamboo flooring, as it's a rapidly renewable resource (so says HGTV) and that can go all throughout the downstairs. We can also buy environmentally friendly paint for any future remodeling job; we can replace the overly cold-running refrigerator with an Energystar appliance; we can run fans instead of air conditioners; we can turn off lights (I'm already a fanatic about that); we will replace all old windows and the door with better materials so that the home is fully insulated; we can keep the old, crooked tree in the backyard that is upending the air conditioner because it provides great shade to the house; and, finally, we've replaced all bulbs with the newer halogen ones so that we save on energy.

Well, it's not much, but it is a start.

References Cited

Home and Garden TV. (2008). Green Home: How Green is the HGTV Green Home? Retrieved April 28, 2008, from http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/green_home_2008/article/0,,HGTV_30916_5816498,00.html

My Blogging Community: Ideas

If I were taking ENG 112 and had to come up with my blogging community, the first thing I would do is isolate what community I am in. Realistically, my blog can be a part of multiple communities: those of English teachers, those of writers of classroom-based blogs, those of people who are interested in home improvement for a variety of reasons.

Because the assignment for the analysis paper requires students to discover which genre community they are a part of, this means that the focus should be on the actual content of the blog. So from all of this I understand that my community for a paper in ENG 112 would have to be other home improvement bloggers.

Here is a list of bloggers that fit the bill:

1. Heather Goss's Diary of a Fixer-Upper, which is linked in Washingtonian Magazine. This is a refreshing look at a successful career woman who is investing in a home and trying to do the work herself. Great photos abound, and her writing style is easy, conversational, yet informative.

2. Houseblogs is a community of bloggers with very up-to-date information on the mortgage crisis, "green" (or environmental) building, how to build the debt-free way, etc. The Houseblogs site is quite like the Huffington Post site. One main page links me to dozens of home improvement bloggers. I could get hundreds of bits of data on this site daily, and I include all of its bloggers as multiple sources yet linked in this easy-to-access site.

3. And now to a real expert. Bob Vila's House Blog is a great site because of his vast experience in home improvement. Anybody who has watched "Bob Vila" or "Bob Vila Home Again" on PBS or the DIY Network would recognize him. And his name is big in the industry--sometimes we just need to go to the "experts." He has 27 years in the industry, and so I feel quite comfortable taking his advice. I would use his site by fact-checking other suggestions from other bloggers and seeing if Vila has commentary on that issue. That way, like with academic research, I both know who I'm quoting and making sure that I have the most informed information possible.

And now-on to the paper!

99.152% Done My First Post-Blog House Project

I never thought it would happen, but hell as frozen over. Well, maybe not. But my hallway project (with exception of one corner's light touch-up and the remounting of a new light) is complete. Because this wasn't a necessary project (like fixing a leaking toilet), it was more of a labor of love. And here's what we did to get the "hallway project" done.

The initial problem was the wooden paneling was that it was, well, wooden paneling. I can't see any real justification for it. My childhood bedroom was a child's wood paneling fantasy, and that was in the 70s and 80s, so maybe this remodeling project is about escaping my childhood bedroom for something more "grown up." The panels graced the stairwell as nicely as any 1970s cheap plywood could, attached by nails and glue, made to look more like wainscoting than an actual wood wall because it only went partially up the walls. It was both cheap and incomplete. Coupled with tacky eagle-encrusted light switch plates, my husband and I think we bought this townhouse simply to rectify my 1970s flashbacks.



And so we tore down paneling, sanded down the remaining glue, patched holes, painted walls upwards of 16 feet in spaces (the stairwell itself soars up two storeys), and at one point I was teetering at the top of a ladder, inhaling fumes, trying to be a perfectionist and getting the job done right. It was a one-time-only study in perfection for me. I don't think I'll go back to that soon.

I think the most important thing about home improvement is that the job actually improves the home. I go up those stairs at least ten times a day, and before the redo I could feel my blood positively bubble over to boiling when I wondered why it took me three years to get to the job. But now that I have completed it, I wonder what I can do next. So if you read this, answer the poll above. I promise to tackle the job that gets the most votes!

The Association...

One thing that homeowners might have to deal with while working on home improvement projects is the dreaded homeowner's association. The purpose of that association is to keep your neighbors (and you) in line. They take dues (ours is double--we have a neighborhood association and the Reston Association [RA]) for things like garbage and landscape maintenance, management of parking issues, and basic oversight of each home. When a home gets into disrepair the homeowner's association (in our case, RA) can put a lien on the owner's property, which requires the homeowner to fix the problem or pay a penalty before they can sell the home. RA actually did this to a neighbor of ours because her front porch light wasn't the right shape. Unfortunately the acceptable light design was discontinued years ago and RA hadn't updated their documentation. $120 dollars later, the lien was finally gone. But talk about bad blood...

The purpose is protection, one guesses, from crazy neighbors who might bring down the value of other properties with trashy front yards (think 50 garden gnomes) or tractor trailers parked on the lawn. But what we have experienced with our neighborhood association is a partnership with predatory towing companies, an interest in cheap holiday decorations (which have only come down last Sunday, four months later), support for the local solicitors such as the ice cream truckers, who blare horrible calliope music in the form of the repetitious "Music Man" in the neighborhood every day at least twice a day, and a general interest in unrest.

There are sites on the web that are out to help homeowners learn the real problems with these associations. For example, the American Homeowner's Resource Center attempts to shine a bright light on the real legalese that these associations can use to take power from homeowners. The goal of these associations was once a good one: support your neighbors and community, keep the neighborhood clean, and everybody's property will benefit. Short of starting a revolution, however, I don't see what we can do to remove Reston Association from our lives other than moving. However, with the way the housing crisis is looming large in our neighborhood (at least 6 foreclosures or short sales at last count), that isn't a possibility.

So what are homeowners to do? Maybe all one can do is fix up their property to code and neighborhood standard and wait it out while maniacal neighbors snoop and intrude and just plain make nuisances of themselves. In the meantime, I'll be buried up to my eyeballs in paint.